WOSU News Archives For October 2004

Young people and college students aren’t traditionally a very powerful voting block. But with the intense focus on Ohio this presidential election season, student leaders at Ohio state are trying to mobilize their peers.

For the first presidential debate on September 30th, WOSU news asked some undecided voters to watch and react to the performances of President George Bush and Senator John Kerry. After the debate, the voters said they were still undecided. Now, with less than a week to go before the election, WOSU’s Mike Thompson asks those voters if they have made up their minds.

Statewide hundreds of school districts are taking their funding needs to the voters in the form of levies and bonds. The Columbus Public Schools are seeking approval of an operating levy that would raise 62-million-dollars a year. District officials say they haven’t asked voters for an operating levy since 1996.

If you’ve watched any television lately, you’ve seen them – an endless stream of political ads. President Bush, John Kerry and other groups are buying up ad time by the truck load. But all the presidential ads are threatening to squeeze out local campaigns.

Wrapping up a weekend-long campaign swing through Ohio, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accused President Bush Sunday of planning a surprise second-term effort to privatize Social Security.

The National Association of Secretaries of State has issued a planning guide, encouraging local elections officials nationwide to come up with contingencies if the homeland security threat level increases prior to or on Election Day.